Rethinking Member Checking: Restorative Justice as a Tool for Relational Accountability in Qualitative Research

Member checking is now seen as the “gold standard” in qualitative research; however, scholars have begun a critical discourse surrounding member checking and the harm it may unintentionally bring to participants. To address these potential harms, we posit the use of restorative justice-guided member checking strategies. The recommendations put forth in this article were first utilized in a study exploring the emotional labor experiences of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) teachers. Drawing from restorative justice principles, restorative justice-guided member checking uses relationship building, harm reparation, reflection, and researcher accountability to address concerns of epistemic injustice that permeate research.